XIMB BUSINESS EXCELLENCE SUMMIT – CELEBRATING 30 YEARS

Xavier Institute of Management celebrated 30 years of distinguished service in the field of academics and business and society. This celebration was aimed at bringing together alumni from diversified realms of business in the hope of creating an insightful blend of ideas, to make the next leg of the journey even more fulfilling.

In this pursuit, the institute inaugurated the Business Excellence Summit on the 22nd of September at Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, in the presence of twenty six distinguished alumni of the college spanning across the 30 years. This was done to initiate an opportunity to interact, celebrate, discuss, reflect, and collaborate. The central theme of the event was, ‘Building the vision for XIMB at 40 in accordance with the VUCA world’. Reflecting the glorious history of XIMB, it was evident that this milestone was possible due to the collaborative efforts of the management, faculty, students, and the entire Xavier fraternity.

The summit commenced with Vice Chancellor and Director of Xavier University, Dr. Fr. Paul Fernandes, delivering an enlightening speech on excellence and universal education. He spoke of “wings of excellence” about which, he quoted, “We need to put on and make sure we are able to have conviction and commitment in the future.” He believed that there is a need to, “think, reflect, inspire, and empower” minds to achieve this excellence.

Day 2 of the summit comprised of panel discussions on topics that aimed to discuss the challenges XIMB would have to surmount in the next ten years. “Without compassion, you cannot become a good leader,” Mr. Sidharth Rath (Group Executive, Axis Bank) quoted as the panel discussed on how management education inculcated leadership capabilities. Moderated by Ms. Sunita Raut (Chief Inspiration Officer at her own consulting practice), the panel consisting of eminent guests like Mr. Sanjib K. Ambasta (Senior VP, Aftermarket Business CV & Vespa 2W, Piaggio), and Mr. Prithwish Mukherjee (Marketing Head, Vodafone, Kolkata) put forward their constructive thoughts and views on leadership. “Leadership is not a part of education system. It is something we develop over time,” Mr. Ashish Pati (COO, Care Hospitals) added.

“Try to help others; if you can’t, at least don’t harm them,” a quote by Mr. Rakesh Kumar (Senior Consultant and Program Director, International Solar Alliance) was the sweet note on which the talks ended.

There were also panel discussions on certain industry relevant topics like that of VUCA, which saw leaders like Mr. Sidharth Rath (Group Executive, Axis Bank) marvelling at how impactful the change in the next thirty years will be; stating that, “India is at the cusp of a big change, the seeds of which are already sown.” The panel discussed strategies which XIMB needs to adopt to surmount these challenges and be an enabler in the VUCA world, with Mr. A.L. Jagannath (Senior Director, Dell-EMC Alliance, VMware) noting, “If we are not prepared to change, we will be VUCA-ed.”

Mr. Rahul Patnaik, Student Representative of XIMB, thanked the management and the alumni along with the core team, the volunteers and the students of XIMB for making the Business Excellence Summit ’17 an event to cherish for years to come. Mr. Ipsit Bibhudarshi, Student Media & PR Coordinator of XIMB, credited the grand success of the summit to the management and the esteemed alumni who graced the event with their presence. He also extended a round of thanks to all the media partners for their support.